Missing boy snuck into, hid in cousin's vehicle, police say

A 5-year-old Detroit boy reported missing early Wednesday has been found safe, Detroit police said, and it turns out he was with family the entire time. Sort of.

Police responded to the 10400 block of Greensboro early Wednesday on the report that 5-year-old Kendall Moses had walked off from a family gathering just after midnight. The area is south of Whittier and west of Interstate 94.

But Kendall knew where he was the entire time; in the vehicle of a female cousin who had left the party. It was knowledge his mother and authorities did not have.

Per Captain Mark Thornton, who gave an update from the home, which was broadcast via Facebook, Moses climbed into the woman's vehicle, without her knowledge, and hid under a seat in the back of the vehicle. He stayed there all night.

As the family's concern grew, phone calls were exchanged between everyone who'd been at the event, but the cousin's phone battery had died and she fell asleep.

She woke up and charged her phone to learn that Moses had gone missing. She got into her vehicle to return to Greensboro, only to have Moses pop up in the backseat. On the instruction of police, she drove the boy to the Detroit Police Department's 5th precinct.

The boy is unharmed but was taken to Children's Hospital as a precautionary measure, Thornton said. But the belief is that Moses, who was riding a bike up and down the hallways of the precinct, is fine. His mother is being interviewed by police.

"These things do happen," Thornton said. But, he added, "we have to take responsibility for our children."

Police also took at least two guns from the home; Thornton declined to share details on why they were taken.